Due to forest fires in Western Colorado, our annual fly fishing trip was cancelled at the last minute, so we decided to do a coffee and sightseeing tour of Denver, Colorado Springs, Santa Fe, and Albequerque. So far, in Denver we have visited Sweet Bloom, Huckleberry, and Corvus Coffee. Also made a stop at at Loyal Coffee in Colorado Springs. We have been following the Food and Wine list of recommended coffee shops. Happy to share my impressions of those places but it seems like they have been covered in other threads.

But the highlight of the trip was our visit yesterday to Cutbow Coffee in Albuquerque NM. All I can say is WOW. The atmosphere reflects a very creative fly fishing theme. Admittedly, I am biased as a fly fishing fan (and this was supposed to be a fly fishing trip), but there is no doubt the coffee shop feels well decorated, spotlessly clean, and modern. The baristas were incredibly friendly, as I still consider myself a coffee novice, and helped walked me through each of their coffees and their flavor profiles.

The first thing I tried was their cold brew iced coffee. They shared that it was hot coffee over ice brewing method. What impressed me most was that even the little details they pay attention to. It was not until I had finished my iced coffee that I noticed that they were using frozen coffee for the ice cubes so the ice didn't dilute the coffee as it melted. Simple, but genius.

But it's all about the espresso, right? I tried their summer blend and a single origin Ethiopian. Both were outstanding! I bought some of their single origin Ethiopian coffee beans to try on my BDB, so can't wait to do that when I get home. Without a doubt, though, the mind blowing moment was their "Gomositta" which they describe as Cutbow espresso over a house made marshmallow. Easily the best coffee drink I have ever had. The home made marshmallow made the drink - it's so good in fact, I will be going back there shortly before we head to Santa Fe just to try it one more time. Check out the photo below.

This place gets an A+ in my book, and is everything a coffee shop should ideally be. If you are in the Albuquerque area, run don't walk to Cutbow!

Yeah, they're great! Did you hear the story about the owner .... going out to San Fran area 25 years ago and without necessarily an interest in coffee, he got a job at Peet's and 70 million pounds of coffee roasting later, he came back to Albuquerque to start his own shop.

For a place with such an incredible number of high level brews/brewpubs per capita, it's good to see more great coffee there in ABQ too.

Great fly fishing in the San Juan's near the NM/CO border ... I'd guess you know!!

Glad you enjoyed your trip too!

Happy Pulls!

So glad to see this post. Cutbow is a wonderful place - nicely decorated, good coffee, and friendly, competent people. Great place to visit on Friday noon when Paul runs a public cupping session - it's a treat to join someone with literally tons of experience who is so open and unassuming. You need to call first to reserve a seat.

Tonefish wrote:Yeah, they're great! Did you hear the story about the owner .... going out to San Fran area 25 years ago and without necessarily an interest in coffee, he got a job at Peet's and 70 million pounds of coffee roasting later, he came back to Albuquerque to start his own shop.

For a place with such an incredible number of high level brews/brewpubs per capita, it's good to see more great coffee there in ABQ too.

Great fly fishing in the San Juan's near the NM/CO border ... I'd guess you know!!

Glad you enjoyed your trip too!

Happy Pulls!

Yes, I spent a while talking with the owner. Returned for a second visit as promised and had another Gomositta. This time I asked for a triple shot of the Guatemalan single origin with marshmallows. Absolute perfection. The picture of that drink is even more impressive, but I won't torture everyone. I think they need to create a name for that variation and add it to the menu! I have a bag of the Ethiopian and the Guatemalan to try on the BDB. Can't wait to see how it tastes through my machine.

Rounding out the trip, we also went to Iconik coffee in Santa Fe (wins the award for best nitro coffee of trip), Evolution coffee in Taos NM, and Novo Coffee back in Denver before heading home. Eight coffee roasters in 5 days. What a fun adventure!

Sadly, due to the heat we decided not to fish in NM, but I have a feeling I'll be back next year.

Wow, must get to Cutbow on our next visit to NM. Iconik is great. Visited on a Sunday morning a couple of years ago and they had an impromptu bluegrass jam session inside the cafe - what a treat.
Your Denver choices were all solid. If you love coffee, beer, or spirits, there are so many great choices here.
Chuck